"Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize winning rock musical retelling of the 'La Bohème' story ... relocated to AIDS-era East Village, New York. A penniless songwriter's love for a young woman grows even as illness begins to consume her. The poet Rodolfo is now punk rocker Roger. Tubercular Mimi is now an AIDS-infected dancer at an S&M nightclub. Painter Marcello is now aspiring filmmaker Mark Cohen, and so forth. The ending is transformed from the opera, but the theme of love striving to endure beyond all obstacles remains."

Sadly, Jonathan Larson never lived to see the success of the show. He passed away the morning of the first preview when RENT was starting Off-Broadway. It's said he died of an aortic dissection, which is when the large blood vessel branching off the heart ruptures.

Thankfully, his work lives on in so many forms.

Though no details have been confirmed yet as far as casting or a premiere date for the live TV production, I can tell you one person who will be auditioning.

Her name is Liza Walter and she's appeared on Maury Povich and 2, TWO, local television commercials. If that doesn't make me qualified to play Maureen, Mark's lesbian ex-lover, I don't know what will.

With the Estate of Jonathan Larson behind the production, we can be pretty confident that the show won't be changed or reduced to a watered down version of the original Tony Award winning musical.

Marc Platt, who worked on Fox's Grease Live, and Wicked is also a solid choice to make sure Jonathan Larson's vision and story remain consistent.

The family of Jonathan Larson had this to say, "‘Rent’​​ was Jonathan’s dream of sharing the ​theater and the passion he had for it with a whole new generation. None of us could have imagined the massive impact that the messages and themes in ‘Rent’ would have on the ​theater​ community or the world … except for Jonathan. We are absolutely thrilled to be continuing Jonathan’s legacy and ​the still-relevant ​themes of ​the show in this way.”

2. Some of the original cast of the Broadway production appeared in the movie version.

After meeting on Rent, Taye and Idina started an on-again-off-again relationship but married on January 11, 2003.

In 2009, the pair had their son, Walker Nathaniel Diggs, however things didn't stay warm and fuzzy for the talented duo. They separated in late 2013 and their divorce was finalized in December of 2014.

Idina spoke to People in 2016 about co-parenting with Taye, "“Your child comes first, that’s all. It’s all about that. He comes first and you have to get past your own egos and you never talk bad about each other.”

4. A Spice Girl earned the role of Mimi while the Broadway show was still playing!